The Lehighton wrestling team dug deep to earn its first win of the season, 42-30, over East Stroudsburg North in Mountain Valley Conference action on Thursday.

The Timberwolves took an early 12-0 advantage after the Indians were forced to forfeit the opening bouts at 220 and 285.

Lehighton coach Dan Williams knew the forfeits would cost his team and that it would have to make up for it elsewhere.

"We knew it was going to be a close match, especially giving up a few forfeits," Williams said. "But it was nice to get a win.

"When you have a young team, its nice when they can start to gel together and the best way they can do that is through winning. I told them they really wrestled as a team and got themselves a win."

Lehighton got on the board with Tegan Durishin's dominant 9-0 decision over Nate Caraballo at 106. The win moves Durishin to 8-4 on the season, establishing him as one of the Indians' most consistent wrestlers.

Lehighton coach Dan Williams was more than pleased with Durishin's effort on the night.

"Tegan was one of those guys that was banged up but basically went out there and wrestled because he knew the team needed him," Williams said. "He got a nice win for us."

Lehighton got a crucial victory at 160 when Connor Frey pinned North's Robert Goetz. The win pushed the Indians' lead to 32-24 and gave them the breathing room they needed to hang on for the victory. With the win, Frey moves to 9-5 on the season.

While Williams is happy with the victory, he is even more pleased that he is seeing improvement in his young team.

"With some of these young guys what you have to look for is improvement," Williams said. "I'm seeing guys improve as we move along and that's really all I can ask for with this group of kids."

Williams believes this win will be a stepping stone for the young Lehighton team and help set the tone for the rest of the season.

"You could see the excitement in these young guys getting their first team win," Williams said, adding that it was their reward for working hard in practice.